Last night, many fans sent me messages saying that Fan Zhendong appeared on the German Cup poster, and he is prominently featured in the center position. They asked for my thoughts on this.
What can I say? To me, this is not surprising at all; in fact, it is the best path for Fan Zhendong at this moment!
Recently, there has been a lot of discussion surrounding him, with questions like ‘Is he still considered a key player for the national team if he doesn’t return?’ Some even worry about his position in the Los Angeles Olympics.
To be frank, most of these concerns are indeed unnecessary.
Let’s look at the facts: Fan Zhendong is currently playing for the Saarbrücken club in the German Bundesliga. The club has specifically announced that he will play three home matches in December, and they have even scheduled the German Cup semifinals for January next year.
Please open in the WeChat client
Meanwhile, the latest issue of the domestic magazine ‘Table Tennis World’ features Fan Zhendong alongside Wang Manyu on the cover. This indicates that Fan Zhendong’s move to play abroad is not merely a personal decision; both the Table Tennis Association and he himself have a clear plan for this choice. He is not abandoning the team; he is simply upgrading himself in a different way.
To put it simply, what new skills can he develop while training domestically? His opponents are teammates he has played with since childhood; their playing styles and habits are all too familiar.
However, in the Bundesliga, it is a different story. The playing styles of European players, with their combination of power and spin, are entirely different from those of Asian players. Fan Zhendong’s move there is to immerse himself in a completely unfamiliar environment, to adapt, to solve problems, and to find new breakthroughs. The benefits of this for maintaining his form and preparing for Los Angeles are obvious.
Some people love to talk about ‘the collective’, thinking that leaving the national team means failure. But we need to look at what Fan Zhendong has already achieved domestically.
This year at the National Games, which are highly prestigious, he won the men’s singles gold medal with an undefeated record and also helped the Shanghai team secure the men’s team silver medal.
In the history of the national team, aside from Ma Long, who else has accomplished this?
It can be said that on the domestic stage, Fan Zhendong no longer needs to prove himself to anyone. What he needs now is new challenges and higher-level competition to maintain his top competitive state. The Bundesliga provides just such a platform!
Think about it: Yao Ming in basketball, Sun Jihai in football—didn’t they reach new peaks in their careers after going abroad? Why can’t table tennis do the same?
Allowing Fan Zhendong to go abroad is not just his personal choice; it is also a strategic attempt by the national team coaches and the entire Chinese sports community. We cannot keep our top athletes confined at home, as that limits the level of competition.
Let him go to Europe, experience different table tennis cultures, and compete against top players we are not familiar with. This will not only enhance his skills but also benefit the entire national team’s training system. In the future, when our young players face European opponents, Fan Zhendong can directly inform them how to handle their shots and how to strategize. Isn’t that much better than just studying videos in isolation?
Please open in the WeChat client
Stop worrying about whether Fan Zhendong will return to China. He is currently playing in Germany, proudly wearing the five-star red flag on his chest.As long as he continues to win and represent the country on the world stage, he is undoubtedly a key player for the national team!